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KITTY MCGEEVER
Kitty McGeever (born Catherine Mitchell c.1968 in Bramley, Leeds, Yorkshire; Died 17 August 2016) appeared as Lizzie Lakely between April 2009 and February 2013, when ill-health forced her to leave. Having attended a Catholic High School, Kitty considered becoming a nun, but after leaving college worked in a factory for five years before getting into the Royal Academy for the Dramatic Arts. Upon leaving RADA, Kitty got television work in TV movie Beyond Fear and an episode of Pie in the Sky in 1997, appeared in movie B. Monkey in 1998, and London's Burning in 1999. Kitty also found work on stage, including Brassed Off at the National Theatre, and a Keith Waterhouse play, Bimbo, which also starred PATRICK MOWER. In 2001, Kitty gave birth to a son, Felix, who developed major health problems aged four months. Kitty herself was unwell, too. Diabetic since 19, she developed pre-eclampsia during pregnancy, and with the stress of Felix's poor health, her kidneys failed and her sight began to fail due to diabetic retinopathy. Within five months Kitty was blind. Felix then tragically died in 2003 aged fifteen months. Kitty eventually got the kidney and pancreas transplant she needed in 2006. By 2008, Kitty was ready to work again, and appeared in comedy Beautiful People. She also returned to the stage in one-woman show Luvvies Blind, a mixture of stand-up, sketches and song and dance, which was part-written by her sister CAROLINE MITCHELL. The performance, on 8 October, was attended by members of the Emmerdale cast and crew and led to Kitty being offered a chance to join the soap. Admiring Kitty's positive frank approach, producers asked her to help them develop an authentic blind character for the show. They discussed with her how disabled people are portrayed on television and how they could approach that differently. Kitty was very keen that Lizzie would not be an issue driven character. In March 2009 when news of her casting was announced, Kitty said "I'm thrilled to be joining Emmerdale as Lizzie and delighted that the show is challenging stereotypes in this way", while producer GAVIN BYLTH commented: "Kitty is an extremely talented actress and I'm pleased that she will be joining the show, marking the arrival of such a fascinating character". Kitty was the first blind actress to be signed up for a regular role in British soap. In late 2009 Kitty became guardian to her friends' sixteen-year-old daughter Charlotte when her mother died of cancer, and moved to Charlotte's family home in Bradford. Besides appearing in Emmerdale, Kitty undertook charity work - including for Sense and Henshaws Society for Blind People - and at the Yorkshire Women of Achievement Awards in 2010 received both the Jane Tomlinson Courage Award and the main Woman of Achievement Award. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's In Touch in a programme broadcast on 28 April 2009, shortly after her first episode was shown, Kitty revealed that she'd love to spend years at Emmerdale, perhaps even emulating Coronation Street''s William Roache, who has portrayed character Ken Barlow since 1960. "I'd love to be the Ken Barlow of ''Emmerdale, yeah of course I would, I mean it's a fantastic job, it's a fabulous place to work, it's a joyful place to work and I love it. I think any actor would say the same. We all worry about being typecast but we worry more about being out of work." However, by the end of the year she had reconsidered. In another episode of the same programme transmitted on 5 January 2010, fashion-conscious Kitty explained about the problems of out of sequence filming and the need to do pick-up scenes: "I was just thinking about Bill Roache the other day and thinking fancy having to ask for permission to have your hair cut for 50 years, I think that would be the thing that broke me - having to ask permission for my hair cutting. Yes, so I don't think I'll be in it for 50 years." At the end of the episode transmitted on 11 February 2013, the continuity announcer said that Kitty had been rushed to hospital the previous week and was in urgent need of a transplant. She passed away following a long illness in August 2015. Category:Actors